Anyone following the ongoing trade and tariff debate could ask, “Why would a lumber company or timberland owners care about international trade or tariff issues?” The answer is simple: The logs and lumber we grow and mill are sought after around the globe. New Hampshire is the second most forested state in the nation. …Logs and lumber flow freely across New Hampshire’s northern border with Canada, while international markets purchase lumber and logs grown and milled in the Granite State. But growing and processing logs into lumber takes time. The investments made by land and mill owners to grow, mill, dry and plane lumber take months and, in the case of growing timber, decades. …During the last trade conflict with China and Canada in 2018, several northern New England hardwood sawmills saw a 40% decrease in lumber value and sales. Meanwhile, their raw material costs increased as much as 18%.